United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1990
Farms for the Future Act of 1990 - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to establish the Agricultural Resource Conservation Demonstration Program to provide Federal guarantees and interest rate assistance for loans made by lending institutions to State trust funds. Authorizes the Secretary to establish in the Treasury the Agricultural Resource Conservation Revolving Fund. Terminates the Program on September 30, 1996.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 1990
Construction Safety, Health, and Education Improvement Act of 1990 - Renames the Office of Construction and Engineering within the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) the Office of Construction Safety, Health, and Education (the Office), which is to protect the safety and health of construction workers and educate them concerning hazardous conditions on the worksite. Provides that the Office shall be headed by a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health. Amends the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (the Act) to direct the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) to establish an effective and fair system for construction worksite inspections by the Office. Gives priority to inspection of: (1) projects and worksites of owners and employers having a higher than average incidence of severity of injuries or illnesses for the type of construction involved; and (2) worksites and operations with a high potential for fatalities or serious injuries and illnesses. Requires the construction safety specialist to provide the Secretary a notice containing specified information on a construction project prior to commencement of work, unless it is necessary to perform such work immediately to prevent injury to persons, and notice is given to the Secretary as soon as practicable. Requires an employer to report to the appropriate regional office of OSHA by telephone or telegraph any incident involving construction work that results in: (1) a fatality or serious injury (within four hours after the incident's occurrence); or (2) a structural failure that leads to the collapse of a place of employment (within 24 hours after the incident's occurrence). Requires the construction safety specialist to submit a written follow-up report with specified information. Directs the Secretary to conduct site inspections to investigate all such reports, as well as all reports of those categories of serious injuries the Secretary prescribes. Requires such inspections within 24 hours after receipt of the telephone or telegraph report, unless site conditions would make inspection dangerous. Directs the Secretary to make public a narrative description of the occurrence. Requires each construction contractor to maintain accurate records of accidents and injuries at a construction worksite. Requires a construction safety specialist to: (1) ensure worksite compliance with the onsite plan and with guidelines of the Secretary and the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health; (2) maintain a detailed worksite safety report; and (3) upon discovery of a hazard, order the contractor to eliminate it and inform the contractor, owner, and Secretary of any imminent dangers. Authorizes the Secretary to issue regulations providing for certain exemptions from this Act for specified types of construction projects, operations, or construction contractors, conditioned on compliance with alternative requirements capable of promoting employee safety and health. Requires a construction contractor to establish a written safety and health program, to be managed by a construction safety specialist. Sets forth the requirements of such a program, including safety and health training for supervisors and employees, construction worksite instruction, inspections, emergency evacuation plans, and material safety data sheets. Requires such programs to have a procedure whereby, if an employee or employee representative reasonably believes that an imminent danger exists, work in the endangered area will stop until a construction safety professional arrives and completes an inspection to determine whether a danger exists. Requires written reports of such evaluations and analyses to be provided immediately to the construction safety specialist and the employee requesting them. Requires a contractor who denies such a request to provide written reasons immediately to the specialist, the employee making the request, and the employee's representative. Requires the employee to return immediately to work, if the site is determined safe. Requires employees working in that area to stop entering an unsafe area until the dangerous condition is corrected and the correction approved by the construction safety specialist. Directs the Construction Safety and Health Training Academy to: (1) train employees of the Office who conduct construction worksite inspections and other appropriate persons; and (2) train and certify construction safety specialists who have fulfilled requirements of a standardized training course and testing program. Revises Federal law relating to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Increases criminal penalties for any employer's willful violations of such Act which result in serious injury or death to an employee. Makes employers who cause such results through specified criminal negligence also liable to such penalties. Doubles the maximum amount of such fines for repeat offenders. Sets forth criminal penalties for persons giving advance notice of any OSHA inspection without authority from the Secretary or the Secretary's designees. Amends the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act to grant the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health specified powers to carry out its functions. Directs the President, in the budget message, to separate the appropriation account for construction industry safety activities from that of nonconstruction activities under such Act and the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 1990
Calls immediately for Greyhound Lines, Inc., and the Amalgamated Transit Union to resume negotiations under the auspices of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service and the Secretary of Labor.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 1990
Condemns the restrictions of the print and electronic media imposed by the Soviet Union on journalists attempting to cover events in Lithuania. Urges: (1) General Secretary Gorbachev to rescind restrictions on the admission of Western journalists to, and on freedom of the press in, Lithuania; and (2) President Bush to take steps to facilitate the readmission of Western journalists to Lithuania.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 1990
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the administration should: (1) be commended for its quick action in addressing the humanitarian crisis in northern Ethiopia; and (2) impress upon Ethiopia's opposition groups that the U.S. attitude toward each such group will be greatly influenced by their cooperation in facilitating relief efforts and by steps they take in negotiating a lasting political settlement. Requests the President to urge: (1) the parties to the conflict in northern Ethiopia to agree to a ceasefire, to accept free passage of relief, and to permit the United Nations (U.N.) to assume a prominent role in coordinating international relief efforts; (2) Soviet President Gorbachev to press the Ethiopian Government to agree to such actions; and (3) nations supplying military assistance to the warring parties in Ethiopia to use their influence to facilitate a ceasefire and end external military flows. Urges the President: (1) until the Ethiopian Government takes such actions, to oppose favorable treatment of such Government by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), to continue to oppose upgrading of U.S. diplomatic relations with such Government, and to prohibit the importation of Ethiopian coffee; and (2) after the Ethiopian Government takes such actions and has made substantial progress in effecting macroeconomic reform and in negotiating a settlement of Ethiopia's internal wars, to begin the normalization of relations and to support an expanded World Bank and IMF role in Ethiopia.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 1990
Authorizes and requests the President to designate May 26, 1990, to commemorate the bicentennial of "An Act for the government of the territory of the United States, south of the river Ohio" (from which Tennessee was formed).
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1990
Contraception and Infertility Research Centers Act of 1990 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Director of the Institute of Child Health and Human Development to make grants and enter into contracts for centers for improving methods of contraception and centers for diagnosing and treating infertility. Requires the Director, subject to appropriations, to provide for three centers with respect to contraception and two centers with respect to infertility. Requires each center to: (1) conduct clinical and other applied research; (2) develop training protocols for and conduct training of physicians, scientists, nurses, and other health and allied health professionals; (3) develop model continuing education programs; and (4) disseminate information to such professionals. Allows a center to use the funds to provide: (1) stipends for health and allied health professionals enrolled in the training programs; and (2) fees to individuals serving as subjects in the clinical trials. Requires each center to use the facilities of a single institution, or be formed from a consortium of cooperating institutions, meeting requirements as prescribed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Allows support for a center to be for a period of up to five years, with extensions of one or more periods of up to five years if the center's operations have been reviewed by a peer review group and the group has so recommended. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary to establish a program of entering into agreements with health professionals, including graduate students, under which the professionals agree to conduct research with respect to contraception or infertility in consideration of the Government agreeing to repay, for each year of such service, not more than a specified amount of the principal and interest of their educational loans. Applies provisions of the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program to this program, except as inconsistent. Authorizes appropriations. Requires amounts appropriated to remain available until the end of the second fiscal year after they are appropriated.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1990
Declares that the Congress should: (1) establish a program of research for the development of methods of contraception and methods of diagnosing and treating infertility; (2) provide adequate long-term resources for the program; (3) ensure that Federal programs with respect to sexually transmitted diseases adequately respond to the role of such diseases in infertility; (4) ensure public education on contraception and infertility; (5) establish as Federal goals the development, by the year 2010, of improved barrier methods to protect against pregnancy and diseases, new methods of contraception for use by men, a vaccine-like drug for women that prevents pregnancy for a significant period of time without other specified effects, and new and improved techniques of diagnosing and treating infertility; (6) require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to reestablish the Ethical Advisory Board in order to facilitate research with respect to infertility; (7) review the policies and procedures of the Food and Drug Administration with respect to expediting approval of drugs and devices for use by the public, especially with respect to contraception and infertility; and (8) determine to what extent measures can be implemented by public or private entities to resolve liability issues involved with drugs and devices concerned with contraception and infertility.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 1990
Ancient Forest Protection Act of 1990 - Establishes the National Ancient Forest Reserve System. Designates certain lands in California, Oregon, and Washington as components of such System. Declares that all Federal lands in such States which qualify as ancient forest or associated forest and are not designated as components of the System shall be managed as if they are. Requires the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior to issue regulations with respect to the removal of commercial timber from such lands. Declares it to be U.S. policy to develop and utilize scientific information to study and identify the biological and ecological requirements of ancient forest ecosystems. Directs the Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality to study and report to appropriate congressional committees on the biological and physical requirements for the survival of such ecosystems.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 1990
Commends the Runnin' Rebels of the University of Nevada at Las Vegas for winning the 1990 National Collegiate Athletic Association Men's Basketball Championship.
United States · United States Congress · 29 March 1990
Nonprofit Organizations Tax-Exempt Bond Reform Act of 1990 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for the tax treatment of bonds of certain nonprofit tax-exempt organizations, including private nonprofit educational institutions and hospitals, in a manner similar to governmental bonds.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 1990
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a tax on the income earned by a small business investment company from a disqualified investment in any small business concern whose amount of cash and aggregate adjusted tax bases of other property immediately after the investment (and taking into account the investment proceeds) exceeds $10,000,000. Disqualifies any other investment not permitted under the Small Business Investment Company Act of 1958. Describes the financial arrangements which determine a disqualified investment.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 1990
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the provisions permitting small issues of tax-exempt bonds to finance manufacturing facilities and farm property.
United States · United States Congress · 27 March 1990
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to disallow a deduction for excess interest paid in connection with certain life insurance contracts. Modifies provisions with respect to indebtedness under such contracts. Requires the filing of information returns relating to changes in the insured under such contracts.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1990
World War II 50th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act - Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States should recognize the 50th anniversary of World War II by minting and issuing commemorative coins. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to issue and mint such coins in five dollar, one dollar, and half dollar denominations. Mandates that surcharges received from the sale of such coins be deposited in a coinage profit fund and allocated, upon separate congressional authorization, to the American Battle Monuments Commission to establish a World War II memorial. Directs the Secretary to report semiannually to the Congress regarding implementation of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1990
Computer Matching Corrections Act of 1990 - Amends the Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988 to exempt State and local governments from verification requirements regarding certain information produced by computer matching programs if the information is provided by a Federal source agency. Restores the ten-day period within which the Federal Government and the States must notify recipients of food stamps, Medicaid, supplemental security income and aid to families with dependent children of a reduction or termination of such welfare benefits (currently there is a 30-day period), except in the case of an individual whose records are used in computer matching programs and who receives notice of an adverse action before the enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1990
National Service Act of 1990 - Title I: School-Based and Higher Education Community Service - Part A: School Based Community Service - Schools and Service-Learning Act of 1990 - Subpart I: School-Based Service Learning - Authorizes the Secretary of Education (the Secretary, for purposes of this title) to make grants to States for state-wide school-based service learning programs involving local partnerships of local educational agencies (LEAs) and other organizations. Authorizes appropriations. Subpart 2: Youthbuild Projects - Authorizes the Director of the ACTION Agency to make grants for up to 90 percent of the cost of Youthbuild projects. Requires that eligible participants in Youthbuild projects be employed in construction, rehabilitation, or improvement of: (1) residential rental housing for homeless individuals and low-income families; (2) transitional housing for homeless individuals; or (3) facilities for providing health, education, and other social services to low-income families. Requires that participants be provided: (1) service opportunities on such construction or rehabilitation projects which are integrated with appropriate skills training and preapprenticeship or apprenticeship programs; (2) education services; (3) personal and peer supports; (4) leadership development; (5) preparation for an placement in unsubsidized employment; and (6) support services and need-based stipends to enable participation, and support services, for up to six months after completion of training, to assist in retaining employment. Conditions provision of service opportunities upon individual attendance and participation in educational services and activities. Bases participant eligibility, with certain exceptions, on the individual's being: (1) 16 to 24 years of age; (2) economically disadvantaged; and (3) a high school dropout with reading and mathematics skills at or below the eighth grade level. Limits an individual's full-time participation to between six and 18 months. Authorizes appropriations. Subpart 3: Other Federal Volunteer Service Programs - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to make grants and contracts for: (1) rural youth service demonstration projects; (2) model community service and service-learning programs; and (3) model service programs for dropouts and out-of-school youth. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Director of the ACTION Agency to make grants to State Governors for initiatives involving non-school-based voluntary service projects in their States. Sets forth provisions for authorized activities and allotments based on school-age population. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Domestic Volunteer Service Act to authorize appropriations to increase the number of low-income individuals who provide services under the Foster Grandparent Program to children who participate in Head Start programs. Subpart 4: Activities of the Secretary of Education - Directs the Secretary of Education to: (1) widely disseminate information about programs under this part; (2) provide for program evaluation, including participant and community opinions; and (3) make such evaluations available to the public, and to congressional committees in the Secretary's annual report. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to or contracts with experienced public and private nonprofit agencies for national or regional clearinghouses for information on volunteer service with respect to subpart 1 programs. Authorizes appropriations. Subpart 5: Volunteer Service Activities of the President - Authorizes the President to make Presidential Awards for School-Based Service recognizing excellence in school-based service programs. Authorizes the President to create an interagency task force to: (1) create and monitor effective measures for coordinating the various parts of this Act; and (2) design a comprehensive Federal service strategy, including specified components. Authorizes appropriations. Subpart 6: General Provisions - Prohibits making grants under this part for any educational program, activity, or service related to sectarian instruction or religious worship, or provided by a school or department of divinity. Applies the General Education Provisions Act to the programs authorized by this part. Part B: Higher Education Community Service - Subpart 1: Innovative Projects for Community Service - Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to and contracts with higher education institutions, (and other public agencies and nonprofit organizations working in partnership with such institutions) to: (1) enable them to create or expand their student community service activities; (2) encourage student initiated and designed community service projects; and (3) help integrate community service into academic curricula and crediting. Directs the Secretary to make grants to colleges, universities, and other nonprofit organizations to train teachers (and those planning teaching careers), education personnel, and community leaders in skills for developing, supervising, and organizing community service activities. Limits the Federal share under this subpart to not more than 50 percent of the cost of the community service activities. Authorizes appropriations. Subpart 2: Campus-Based Community Work Learning Jobs - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to provide for additional reservations of certain funds for: (1) campus-based community work learning study jobs; and (2) work-study for community service-learning on behalf of low-income individuals and families. Subpart 3: Guaranteed Student Loans - Amends HEA to provide for up to three-year loan deferments under the guaranteed student loan (GSL) and the federally-insured student loan (FISL) program for: (1) certain full-time volunteer service; (2) full-time employment as a professional in drug counseling, prevention, intervention, treatment, or education by a public or nonprofit private agency; and (3) full-time volunteers providing Indian health services. Subpart 4: Direct Loans to Students in Institutions of Higher Education - Amends HEA to provide for certain rates of partial cancellation of loans and certain deferments of loan repayments under the national direct student loan (NDSL) program for: (1) certain full-time volunteer service; (2) full-time employment as a professional in drug counseling and treatment; and (3) full-time volunteers providing Indian health services. Subpart 5: Publication - Amends HEA to require that specified information on student loan deferments and cancellations for certain full-time voluntary service be included in institutional information for students, exit counseling for borrowers, and Department of Education information on student loans. Subpart 6: Student Literacy Corps - Amends HEA to require Student Literacy Corps programs to give priority to tutoring services to illiterate parents of educationally or economically disadvantaged elementary school students, with special emphasis on single-parent households. Authorizes increased appropriations for the Student Literacy Corps. Subpart 7: Student Tutorial Corps Initiative - Amends HEA to create a Student Tutorial Corps. Authorizes the Secretary to make demonstration grants to higher education institutions for student tutorial programs that: (1) encourage their students to tutor educationally disadvantaged students in schools assisted under chapter 1 of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965; (2) are conducted at such schools, at the request and with the direction of school personnel; and (3) do not displace any of such personnel. Authorizes appropriations. Part C: Peace Corps Volunteer Education Demonstration Program Act - Authorizes the Director of the Peace Corps (the Director) to carry out a training and educational benefits demonstration program. Makes eligible for such program participation any individual who: (1) has satisfactorily completed at least two years at a higher education institution, is enrolled in a bachelor's degree program of at least four years and will complete it within two years; (2) agrees to serve at least three years as a Peace Corps volunteer; and (3) is selected under a specified competitive process. Requires the Director to provide a Peace Corps training program for the selectees as part of their course of study at their institution. Requires that selectees receive certain educational benefits to cover costs of their last two years of study. Requires repayment if the individual fails to complete the educational program or the service requirement. Authorizes the Secretary of Education to collect such repayments. Requires the Director and the Secretary to evaluate such demonstration program jointly and submit an interim and a final report to the President and the Congress. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: To Establish the American Conservation and Youth Service Corps - Part A: American Conservation Corps - Establishes the American Conservation Corps (ACC), to be administered by Federal agencies and through a State grant component. Directs the Secretaries of the Interior and of Agriculture to establish the Federal component of the ACC within their agencies to administer programs on Federal lands. Encourages Federal agencies to enter into program agreements with program agencies, local governments, and nonprofit organizations. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to establish a program of grants to States to administer the State component of the ACC involving work on non-Federal public lands and waters. Directs each Governor to designate a State program agency. Requires States carrying out such programs to provide mechanisms for participation by local governments and nonprofit organizations. Authorizes the ACC to carry out conservation, rehabilitation, and improvement projects relating to: (1) wildlife habitat, rangelands, parks, recreational areas; (2) urban revitalization and historical and cultural sites; (3) fish and fisheries; (4) roads and trails; (5) erosion, floods, droughts, and storm damage assistance and control; (6) streams, lakes, waterfront harbors, and ports; (7) wetlands protection and pollution control; (8) insect, disease, rodent, and fire prevention and control; (9) improvement of abandoned railroad beds and rights-of-way; (10) energy conservation, renewable resources, and biomass recovery; (11) reclamation and improvement of strip-mined land; and (12) forestry, nursery, and cultural operations. Limits such projects to those on public lands or Indian lands, except where the administering Secretary determines that a project involving other lands will provide a public benefit. Part B: Youth Service Corps - Requires the Director of the ACTION Agency to appoint an Assistant Director to make grants for youth service projects to eligible public and private nonprofit agencies, and to otherwise administer Youth Service Corps (YSC) programs under this part. Provides for designation of specific activities as eligible service categories if: (1) they are of substantial social benefit in meeting unmet human, social (especially poverty-related), or environmental needs in a community; (2) they will not interfere unreasonably with employment availability and terms of employees of sponsoring organizations; and (3) participants are qualified for such activities. Allows such service categories to include service in: (1) State, local, and regional governmental agencies; (2) nursing homes, hospices, senior centers, hospitals, local libraries, parks, recreational facilities, day care centers, and schools; (3) law enforcement, penal, and probation agencies; (4) private nonprofit social services organizations; (5) rehabilitation or improvement of public facilities or neighborhoods, literacy programs, weatherization and repair of low-income housing, energy conservation (including solar energy), removal of public facility architectural barriers to the handicapped, and conservation, maintenance, or restoration of natural resources on publicly held lands; and (6) any other nonpartisan civic activities and services determined appropriate by the Assistant Director. Prohibits such service categories from including any position in any: (1) business organized for profit; (2) labor union; (3) partisan political organization; (4) religious organization, unless the position does not involve any religious functions; or (5) domestic or personal service organization. Part C: Youth Skills Enhancement - Requires the administering Secretary or the Assistant Director (as the case may be) to provide guidance and assistance to States in securing certification of training skills or academic credit for competencies developed under this title. Directs each program agency to maintain or enhance, through programs and projects under this title, the educational skills of program enrollees. Directs appropriate State and local officials to certify standards and procedures (that meet specified Federal criteria) for awarding academic credit and certifying educational attainment in such programs. Part D: Administrative Provisions - Sets forth requirements for award of grants to eligible entities, including matching requirements and limitations on use of funds. Limits enrollment in the ACC and YSC to individuals who, at the time of enrollment, are: (1) 16 through 25 years old (15 through 21 for summer programs); and (2) U.S. citizens or nationals or lawful permanent resident aliens. Requires the State job training coordinating council to appoint an advisory board for oversight and review of ACC and YSC projects under this title. Authorizes appropriations. Part E: Youth Service Clearinghouses - Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior and the Director of the ACTION Agency to provide financial assistance to one or more national or regional clearinghouses on youth corps and youth service. Allows experienced public and private nonprofit agencies to apply for such assistance, and sets forth required clearinghouse functions.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1990
Organ Procurement Process Review Act of 1990 - Amends the Public Health Service Act require that an organ procurement organization (OPO), in order to be eligible to receive certain grants, have a service area of sufficient size which will include not less than 50 potential organ donors each year. (Current law requires a service area of sufficient size such that the organization can reasonably expect to procure organs from not less than 50 donors each year.) Repeals provisions of the Health Omnibus Programs Extension of 1988 which delay the effective date of certain related amendments, with regard to an OPO designated under specified provisions of the Social Security Act, until two years after the initial designations of the organization. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish the National Advisory Committee for Review of the Organ Procurement Process.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1990
Provides for the implementation and enforcement of the Inter-American Convention on International Commercial Arbitration by United States courts. Authorizes courts to issue orders to compel arbitration and to appoint arbitrators in accordance with the agreement of the parties involved, or in accordance with the Convention in the event the agreement makes no provision for arbitration. Specifies that any arbitral decisions or awards made in the territory of a foreign State shall, on the basis of reciprocity, be recognized and enforced only if that State has ratified or acceded to the Convention. Provides that where the requirements of the Inter-American Convention and the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards of June 10, 1958, are met, the Inter-American Convention shall apply only if a majority of the parties to arbitration are citizens of States that: (1) have ratified and acceded to such Convention; and (2) are members of the Organization of American States.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1990
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the United States should support the unified status of Jerusalem and continue to recognize that a unified Jerusalem is an integral part of the State of Israel; (2) efforts of the U.S. Government to achieve peace in the Middle East should take into account the close relationship between the United States and Israel, as well as Israel's legitimate security needs; and (3) efforts to advance the peace process must not call into question the status of Jerusalem.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1990
Family Unity and Employment Opportunity Immigration Act of 1990 - Title I: Family-Sponsored and Employment-Based Immigration - Subtitle A: Admission and Status - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to reorganize the standards for entry of permanent resident aliens around family-sponsored immigrants and employment-based immigrants. Revises: (1) the preference system for allocation of visas; (2) the petitioning procedure; and (3) the labor certification process. Grants a temporary stay of deportation and a work authorization to certain eligible immigrants who are spouses or children of legalized aliens. Revises: (1) certain nonimmigrant classifications; and (2) the qualifications for admission of aliens (and families) in religious occupations. Denies nonimmigrant (crewmember) status to aliens intending to perform services on board U.S. vessels or aircraft during a labor dispute where there is a strike or lockout in the bargaining unit of the employer for which the alien intends to perform such services. Subtitle B: Education and Training of American Workers - Directs the Attorney General to charge $1,000 fees (with certain exceptions) to any employer petitioning to import into the United States an alien falling in specified employment-based categories. Requires the Secretary of Labor, from an account into which such fees are deposited, to make grants to States to provide educational assistance and training for U.S. workers. Title II: Other Provisions Regarding Immigrant Visas - Directs the Attorney General to adjust to (conditional) permanent resident status the status of certain qualifying aliens who are natives of an adversely affected foreign state. Makes available up to 25,000 immigrant visa numbers in each of FY 1991 through 1993 to qualified: (1) displaced aliens from Eastern Europe; and (2) immigrants from Africa. Declares that for numerical limitation purposes Hong Kong shall be treated as a separate foreign state, and not as a colony or other component or dependent area of a foreign state, beginning with FY 1991. Title III: Other Immigration Provisions - Subtitle A: Provisions Relating to Marriage Fraud - Provides for a waiver of the conditional residence requirement for a foreign spouse who: (1) entered the qualifying marriage in good faith; and (2) can show through credible evidence that he or she was battered by, or subject to extreme mental cruelty perpetrated by, his or her spouse or parent. Provides a bona fide marriage exception to the foreign residence requirement for marriages entered into during certain immigration proceedings. Subtitle B: Provisions Relating to Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 - Prohibits discrimination based on national origin or citizenship status with respect to the terms and conditions of employment. Repeals the requirement that aliens file a declaration of intention to become a citizen in order to file an anti-discrimination complaint. Adds an extra year to the deadline for applying for adjustment of status from temporary to permanent residence. Permits judicial review of regulations, policies, and practices and court-ordered remedies for certain administrative actions. Disqualifies certain legalized aliens from cash assistance welfare programs only, not all financial assistance programs. Repeals certain paperwork requirements for recruiters and referrers. Provides for special immigrant status for certain aliens declared dependent on a juvenile court. Directs the Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization to provide for a system for collection and dissemination of information useful in evaluating the social, economic, environmental, and demographic impact of immigration laws. Exempts travelers from Belize from the immigration inspection user fee. Title IV: Removal of Criminal Aliens - Revises the definition of aggravated felony to include illicit trafficking in controlled substances. Grants Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) officers the power to make arrests for any offense against the United States. Directs the Commissioner to provide for the fingerprinting and photographing of each alien 14 or over against whom a deportation proceeding is commenced. Revises the condition for an alien's release from custody pending determination of deportability. Declares that any judicial recommendations against deportation shall not be taken into account in a deportation proceeding in determining the number of convictions for crimes involving moral turpitude. Revises: (1) the requirements for the notice given to an alien (or alien's counsel of record) about a deportation hearing; and (2) the limitations on discretionary relief from deportation. Declares that no time during the pendency of administrative or judicial proceedings shall be counted as periods of continuous physical presence for suspension of deportation. Repeals a proviso indicating that a written request from a prosecutor or judge obliges the Attorney General to deport an alien before his or her release from the correctional institution where he or she is confined. Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to require States, as a condition for receiving drug control and system improvement grants, to provide INS without fee the certified conviction records of aliens convicted of violating State criminal laws. Provides for deportation for attempted violations of controlled substances laws. Revises the definition of good moral character to exclude persons convicted of an aggravated felony (not just, as current law provides, the crime of murder).
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 1990
Amends the Tax Reform Act of 1986 to provide for the deductibility of State and local income and sales taxes to the extent such taxes exceed one percent of adjusted gross income.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 1990
Congratulates: (1) the people of Lithuania on their recent multiparty elections; (2) the new Government on its decision to restore Lithuanian independence; and (3) the new Supreme Council of the Republic of Lithuania. Urges the Soviet Government to enter into negotiations with the new Lithuanian Government on an equal basis and to refrain from acts of political and economic intimidation against Lithuania. Urges the President to: (1) strengthen and seek ways to demonstrate his commitment to an independent and democratic Lithuania; (2) take steps toward normalizing diplomatic relations with the Lithuanian Government; (3) seek effective political support among our allies as Lithuania attempts to negotiate credits in Western markets; and (4) seek ways to make appropriate technical assistance available to the Lithuanian people.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 1990
Medicare Rehabilitation and Long-Term Hospital Rebasing Act of 1990 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to adjust the base year applied in determining the amount of payments to be made to rehabilitation and long-term hospitals under part A (Hospital Insurance) of the Medicare program.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 1990
Declares that it is the sense of the Congress that the United States should: (1) promote maximum conservation and protection of the world's whales; (2) work to postpone further review of the International Whaling Commission moratorium on the commercial killing of whales and maintain zero catch limits for all whale stocks for at least another decade; (3) work to strengthen the Commission and encourage it to carry out long-term, nonlethal research for all whale stocks on a global basis; and (4) in promoting protection, make use of diplomatic channels, domestic and international law, and all other means.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 1990
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income the value of any subsidy provided by a public utility to a customer for the purchase or installation of energy or water conservation measures.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 1990
Miscellaneous Human Resource Amendments of 1990 - Title I: Child Welfare and Foster Care Provisions - Amends part E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of title IV of the Social Security Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to annually provide specified information to the Congress and the public concerning the Foster Care and Adoption Assistance program and the Child Welfare Services program (part B of title IV of the Social Security Act). Prohibits the Secretary from penalizing States under such programs before FY 1992 by reason of a determination made in connection with any triennial review of State compliance with foster care protections. Title II: Supplemental Security Income Provisions - Amends title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSI) of the Social Security Act to increase SSI benefits. Directs the Secretary to annually notify all elderly individuals and disabled individuals who are recipients of benefits under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act and may be or could become eligible for SSI benefits of the availability of SSI benefits and provide such notice to individuals when they attain age 65, apply for OASDI disability benefits before attaining age 65, and are notified of their eligibility for benefits under part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act. Establishes a presumption that a child under age four with a genetic or congenital impairment is disabled or blind for SSI purposes if it is probable that when the child is older the application of clinical and laboratory techniques will prove such to be the case. Directs the Secretary to prescribe final regulations by January 1, 1991, concerning revisions to specified listings of childhood mental and emotional disorders. Requires the Secretary to: (1) consider age-appropriate medical and functional criteria developed by experts in childhood disability in reviewing and revising medical criteria for the evaluation of impairments of children; and (2) publish revised listings of impairments of children and explain deviations from the recommendations of experts within 24 months of this Act's enactment. Preserves the Medicaid (title XIX of the Social Security Act) eligibility of certain individuals rendered ineligible for SSI or State supplementary payments due to their receipt of weekly or biweekly income. Reduces the SSI benefits of a person who is living in another person's household and receiving support and maintenance in kind from such person by the lesser of 33 1/3 percent or the amount of such in-kind income. Excludes amounts received from a State fund to aid victims of crime from an individual's income and resources for SSI purposes. Prohibits the denial of SSI benefits to individuals by reason of their rejection of amounts offered as compensation for a crime. Title III: Child Support Enforcement Provisions - Amends part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of title IV of the Social Security Act to extend the authority of States to request the withholding of Federal tax refunds from persons owing past-due child support from January 1, 1991, to January 10, 1996. Makes the collection of past-due support from Federal tax refunds applicable to past-due support owed to anyone who was determined to be disabled under the OASDI or SSI programs when he or she was a minor. Extends, from four to 12 months, the period of continuing Medicaid coverage provided to a family which loses eligibility under part A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) of title IV of the Social Security Act due to the collection or increased collection of child support under part D. Title IV: Unemployment Provisions - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to institute discretionary denial of unemployment benefits between academic terms to employees serving educational institutions in nonprofessional positions. (Under current law denial is mandatory.) Amends title IX (Employment Security) of the Social Security Act to make permanent a limitation on State use of Unemployment Trust Fund amounts for administrative purposes. Title V: Technical Corrections to 1989 Reconciliation Act - Makes technical corrections to the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1989 and the Social Security Act.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 1990
Breast and Cervical Cancer Mortality Prevention Act of 1990 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services, through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control, to make grants to States, with regard to breast and cervical cancer, for screening, referrals and follow-up services, public information and education programs, education and training for health professionals, quality monitoring of screening, and evaluations of such activities. Sets forth preferences in making the grants and requires equitable geographical distribution. Requires matching non-Federal funds in a specified ratio. Requires that States agree to: (1) provide all of certain services by a specified date; (2) switch to any improved screening procedures which become available; and (3) assure the quality of any screening procedures used. Directs the Secretary to establish guidelines for assuring the quality of mammography and cytological screening conducted under these provisions. Requires that low-income women be given priority in the provision of services. Requires that a charge for services, if any: (1) be made according to a public schedule; (2) be adjusted for income of the woman involved; and (3) not be imposed on women with incomes below the poverty line. Requires services to be provided throughout a State, including to members of any Indian tribe or tribal organization. Authorizes the Secretary to provide training and technical assistance. Directs the Secretary to provide for annual evaluations of programs carried out under this Act. Authorizes appropriations. Limits the number of grants made to seven in FY 1991.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 1990
Wetlands Conservation Initiative Act of 1990 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax credit for wetlands conservation expenditures, wetlands conservation leases, and charitable contributions of environmentally valuable wetlands.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 1990
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the 25th anniversary of the enactment of the Older Americans Act of 1965 and its successful implementation should be recognized; (2) contributions at all levels of the aging network should be acknowledged and commended; and (3) support for the Act and its primary goal should be reaffirmed.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1990
Calls for: (1) the United States to reaffirm its unequivocal support for the Polish-German border as set after World War II; (2) Chancellor Helmut Kohl to state unequivocally that such border will be respected and preserved; and (3) Poland to be included as an equal participant with the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and France in German unification discussions relating to the borders of a unified Germany and the security of neighboring countries.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1990
Establishes the Weir Farm National Historic Site (after impressionist painter J. Alden Weir), Connecticut, as a unit of the National Park System. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1990
Mickey Leland Memorial Domestic Hunger Relief Act - Title I: Reducing Childhood Hunger - Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to revise and increase the excess shelter expense deduction for each fiscal year from FY 1991 through FY 1993. Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to adjust the basic benefit level upwards by specified increments at the beginning of each fiscal year from FY 1991 through FY 1995 until it reaches 105 percent of the cost of the thrifty food plan. Directs the Secretary by regulation to provide for emergency allotments to eligible households to replace food lost in a disaster. Excludes from the computation of household income any State allowance (provided at least annually) for obtaining school clothes for children in school or child care. Provides for allotment increases to cover State or local sales taxes for participants in demonstration projects. Requires alternative systems for delivery or use of food stamp benefits to meet standards issued by the Secretary and, where household participation is not optional, to involve retail food stores serving minority populations, but only if necessary special equipment is operational at all registers. Provides food stamp coverage for prepared meals for homeless households. Permits State agencies to develop standard estimates of the shelter and related expenses which homeless households may reasonably be expected to incur in order to certify such households based on reported expenses not exceeding such an estimate. Title II: Promoting Self-Sufficiency - Excludes the first $50 a month received as child support from consideration as income in determining the food stamp allotments of households also receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) benefits. Increases from $4,500 to $5,500 from January 1 through September 30, 1991, with annual cost-of-living adjustments to follow, the limit on the fair market value of vehicles that food stamp recipients may own. Directs the Secretary to conduct a sufficient number of demonstration projects to evaluate the effects of excluding from such vehicle calculation the value of: (1) any licensed vehicle used for certain income-producing, transportation, or shelter purposes; and (2) one licensed vehicle used for job-related or job-seeking purposes (including commuting), for pursuing education or training, or for securing food or food stamp benefits. Allows States to use their own agency-designed forms instead of forms approved by the Secretary. Directs State agencies to allow a household to select an adult parent of children in the household as its head where all adult household members agree to do so. Allows four States to give priority in the provision of services to voluntary participants (including both exempt and nonexempt), so long as performance standards are maintained. Authorizes an employment and training program to contain programs designed to increase the self-sufficiency of recipients through self-employment. Excludes from the computation of household financial resources any nonliquid resources necessary to allow the household to carry out an approved plan for self-sufficiency. Increases from $25 to $75 the limit for reimbursements to recipients for costs incurred in employment and training activities. Permits otherwise eligible persons who attend an institution of higher learning to receive food stamp benefits if he or she: (1) attends the institution as part of an employment and training program; or (2) is over 50, registered for employment, and subject to employment or training requirements. Revises the exclusion of educational expenses from the computation of household incomes. Excludes from the computation of household incomes housing assistance payments made to a third party on behalf of a household residing in transitional housing for the homeless. Title III: Simplifying Program Administration - Requires parents and children (regardless of age) who live together to apply for food stamps as a single household. Directs the Secretary to conduct five demonstration projects, in both rural and urban areas, under which households in which each member receives AFDC benefits shall receive monthly food stamp allotments following AFDC rules and procedures, without regard to the eligibility, benefit, and administrative rules of the food stamp program. Requires the Secretary to issue rules under which State agencies must develop standards for identifying (for exclusion as inaccessible resources) those kinds of resources the household is unlikely to sell for any significant return because its interest is so slight or the cost of selling would be so great. Provides that a food stamp office need not consider any resources that the AFDC or supplemental security income benefit programs have already determined to be exempt. Directs State agencies to require only one adult representative of a household to sign all declarations required in the application process on behalf of the household. Makes recipients of State or local general assistance programs categorically eligible for food stamps. Reduces from 30 to ten days the deadline for households convicted of food stamp fraud to decide how to repay their over issuances. Establishes a Commission on the Coordination of Family Support and Food Stamp Policies to report to the President and the Congress on AFDC and food stamp program policies, recommending how to eliminate barriers to participation in both programs. Authorizes appropriations. Title IV: Hunger in Rural America - Requires State agencies to designate rural project areas where low-income persons face substantial difficulties in getting transportation. Requires issuance of coupons by mail in such areas, except where households experience mail losses exceeding certain levels. Allows States to assist households with the food stamp application process. Directs the Secretary to exclude from financial resources the value of a vehicle a household depends upon to carry heating fuel or water for home use where it has no other access to fuel or water. Title V: Promoting Access for the Elderly and Disabled - Declares that State agencies, with respect to the excess medical deduction for the elderly and the disabled, shall not require further verification of a change in medical expenses if the change has been anticipated for the verification period. Requires annual adjustments to the value of the minimum food stamp benefit. Permits State agencies to establish a procedure allowing households whose regular food stamp benefits do not exceed $20 per month to receive up to $60 worth for intervals of up to three months. Requires that any applicant for or recipient of supplemental security income benefits be informed of the availability of food stamp benefits. Title VI: Program Administration by State Agencies - Prohibits the application of disallowances for erroneous issuances or similar actions to any State for a fiscal year before FY 1991. Directs the Secretary, by specified deadlines, to develop standards for initial approval of automated data processing and information retrieval systems for State agencies, as well as written procedures and standards for initial and continued approval reviews. Sets alternative deadlines for full operation of such systems, the later being September 30, 1993. Provides for waivers of ADC system requirements where their application would not significantly improve the efficiency of a State agency's administration. Title VII: Reauthorization of Programs - Reauthorizes through FY 1995: (1) the food stamp program; (2) the nutrition assistance program for Puerto Rico; (3) the temporary emergency food assistance program under the Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983; (4) the soup kitchen and food bank programs under the Hunger Prevention Act of 1988; (5) the commodity distribution and supplemental food programs under the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973; (6) the distribution of surplus commodities to special nutrition projects under the Agriculture and Food Act of 1981; and (7) the nutrition education program under the Food Security Act of 1985. Title VIII - Amends the Commodity Distribution Reform Act and WIC Amendments of 1987 to require biennial reports to the Congress on food bank projects. Amends the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973 to establish a Commodity Supplemental Food Program for the Elderly. Amends the Hunger Prevention Act of 1988 to set forth the National Gleaning Clearinghouse Act of 1990. Establishes a National Gleaning Clearinghouse to share information on available, unused food that could be distributed through the emergency feeding network. Title IX: Effective Dates - Sets forth the effective dates of provisions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 22 February 1990
Benjamin Franklin Memorial Fire Service Bill of Rights Act - Title I: Minting of Benjamin Franklin National Memorial Commemorative Coin - Benjamin Franklin National Memorial Commemorative Coin Act - Provides for the sale of Benjamin Franklin commemorative coins at a surcharge of which 25 percent shall be paid to the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial and the remainder be distributed in specified percentages to the National Fire Center and Museum Account, the National Hero Scholarship Account, the Firefighter Tuition Assistance Account, the Hazardous Materials Response Computer Account, the Research and Education Account, and the Burn Research Grant Account of the Firefighter Assistance Trust Fund (Fund). Prohibits the issuance of such coins from resulting in any net cost to the Federal government. Title II: Fire Service Bill of Rights - Fire Service Bill of Rights Act - Amends the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 to establish a fire service bill of rights. Establishes the National Fire Center and Museum in the District of Columbia to provide information about the fire service and safety to the public and fire services. Establishes a National Hero Scholarship to fund the higher education of a child, spouse, or dependent parent of a deceased firefighter. Establishes a scholarship providing tuition assistance to firefighters for higher education in fire safety or protection. Authorizes the Administrator of the United States Fire Administration to use amounts in the Research and Education Account of the Fund to fund other specified programs under the Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 and the provision of information concerning surplus Federal property and infectious diseases pursuant to this Act. Establishes the Firefighter Assistance Trust Fund. Places the National Academy for Fire Prevention and Control within the United States Fire Administration. Directs the Administrator to provide States with funds from the Hazardous Materials Response Computer Account of the fund for distribution to local fire services that wish to purchase computer equipment. Directs the Administrator to make a grant from the Burn Research Grant Account of the Fund to one national firefighter's burn foundation dedicated to reducing burn injuries. Requires the Administrator to prepare and make available to fire services, upon request, a manual describing Federal procedures for disposing of surplus property and highlighting how fire services could obtain such property. Directs the Administrator to distribute to such marshals information on the infectious diseases to which firefighters are particularly vulnerable. Permits the Administrator, in certain circumstances, to award to a domestic firm a contract that, under the use of competitive procedures, would be awarded to a foreign firm.
United States · United States Congress · 22 February 1990
International Voluntary Family Planning Assistance Act of 1990 - Authorizes appropriations for international population planning assistance. Earmarks a specified amount of such funds for the United Nations Population Fund if: (1) the Fund maintains such funds in a separate account, without commingling; (2) none of the funds are made available for China; and (3) any agreement to obligate such funds expressly states that the full amount granted by the agreement will be refunded to the United States if U.S. funds are used for family planning in China or abortions in any country. Prohibits any funds appropriated under this Act from being used for abortions.
United States · United States Congress · 22 February 1990
Calls for the retention of sanctions against South Africa under the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act until all conditions for the termination of sanctions are fulfilled and a democratic political process is established.
![Official portrait of Rep. Kennelly, Barbara B. [D-CT-1]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/k000118_200.jpg)